Giants Thrash Texans and Shake Off Gloom

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Although it was a new year, the Giants’ 2014 season, through two games, looked and felt no different from the team’s disastrous start a year ago.

The losses were dissimilar yet familiar. In the first game, the Giants were utterly clueless. The next week, a modicum of precision was undone by mystifying blunders.

Last year’s Giants began the season with six successive defeats, but it was not going to take that many for the Giants to be written off in 2014.

A 0-3 start would probably have been enough. And the Giants knew it.

Sensing the gloom enveloping the team, the players in practice last week asked their usually austere coach, Tom Coughlin, if they could lighten the mood. Soon, the normally business-only, whistle-filled atmosphere of a Giants workout was filled with a pulsating soundtrack of another genre — music from Mystikal and the Notorious B.I.G.

“The music came straight from Coach Coughlin’s iPad,” quarterback Eli Manning joked. “It was before the meat of practice, and we were goofing around. But it loosened everyone up. The point was to go have fun in the game. We know what to do.”

That might have been a debatable point before Sunday’s contest at MetLife Stadium. But then the Giants cruised to a 30-17 thrashing of the Houston Texans in a game in which they looked remarkably efficient in every phase.

The new-look offense looked fluid, fast and resourceful. The defense created havoc, played cohesively and created three turnovers.

Granted, the Texans (2-1) were playing without their best offensive player, running back Arian Foster, who was sidelined with a hamstring injury. But the Giants (1-2) played a complete game for a change, and although they had missteps, they recovered and played their best in the second half — another important step in their development.

Afterward, the Giants breathed a collective sigh of relief. If nothing else, they will not start this season 0-6.

“Yeah, we didn’t want to go through that again,” said Manning, who had his best game since 2012, completing 21 of 28 passes for 234 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whose energy and agility Sunday was reminiscent of his Pro Bowl-caliber efforts three years ago, added: “We know what everyone was thinking at 0-2, and we had to show people that everything is going to be O.K. There’s a lot more to do, but we’re going to be O.K.”

The star of the game, running back Rashad Jennings, who rushed for 176 yards on 34 carries, is new to the Giants, having signed as an off-season free agent. But he also sensed that the team needed to relax. Jennings, who had a pivotal fumble in the Giants’ loss to Arizona last week, addressed his teammates before Sunday’s game. He spoke about finding a motivating reason to play the game and to focus on that.

“It could be anything,” Jennings said. “For me, I was reminded that my father has diabetes and had both his legs amputated. I remembered that I have them. I played for him.”

Jennings said his father, Albert, was watching the game in Richmond, Va.

“I told him what I was thinking this morning,” Jennings said. “I hope he’s smiling now.”

The Giants’ running attack had been ineffective in the team’s first two games, averaging about a third of Jennings’s rushing total Sunday. But the Texans appeared susceptible to the run, giving up an average of 116 yards in their first two games.

The Giants’ offensive line, inconsistent and subpar in the first two games, opened gaping holes for Jennings. But Jennings also broke numerous tackles and fought relentlessly for extra yardage.

Since the Giants revamped their offense in the off-season, the fundamental buzzword has been tempo. The overarching goal was to get the football out of Manning’s hands quickly. It did not always work that way.

But on Sunday, Manning was firing crisp, short passes and hitting receivers in stride. On one such pass in the first quarter, he found Victor Cruz on a crossing route for 61 yards.

The Cruz completion should have led to a field goal, but a botched snap left the game scoreless. It was the second time the Giants had been inside the Texans’ 10 and failed to score. Another drive was stalled when tight end Larry Donnell fumbled.

Those were mistakes that might have left the Giants muttering to themselves in a losing locker room. But for one week, at least, they were resilient.

Because the Giants’ defense was hounding Houston quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in the pocket — the Texans converted only 2 of 12 third downs — the Giants’ offense continually got the football in good field position and eventually wore down Houston. With a little more than four minutes left in the first half, Manning connected with Cruz for a 26-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

For Cruz, it was his first touchdown in nearly a year, a stretch of 12 games. Cruz last scored on Sept. 29 in a loss to Kansas City.

On the Texans’ next possession, the improved Giants pass rush harassed Fitzpatrick into another poor, hurried throw. Safety Antrel Rolle snatched the pass for one of the Giants’ three interceptions. The turnover led to a 14-0 lead.

The tone was set for the second half, and the Giants, for a change, knew how to keep the momentum and extended their lead to 17 points.

Houston rallied to cut the Giants’ lead to a touchdown late in the third quarter, but Manning answered with a 10-play drive that culminated in a Josh Brown field goal.

The Giants’ Damontre Moore blocked a punt, and three plays later Manning made his best throw of the season — a precise toss over a defender and into the end zone, where the backup tight end Daniel Fells corralled the ball for a 9-yard touchdown and a 20-point lead.

Afterward, the Giants were at ease and still laughing about the throbbing music they had foisted upon their customarily staid practices.